Darren Carty speaking at Tullamore Farm open day. \ Philip Doyle
ADVERTISEMENT
The system of calving suckler cows in early spring and lambing the ewes in mid-March worked particularly well on Tullamore Farm in 2019.
At the open day, the reproductive performance of the ewes was one of the main focuses. The ewes on the farm are Mule ewes, progeny of a Scottish Blackfaced ewe and a Bluefaced Leicester ram. These sheep were selected to achieve a high output.
ADVERTISEMENT
Scanning
This year’s scanning records are based on a group with a high percentage of hoggets and a small batch of ewe lambs. Overall, the flock scanned at 2.23 lambs per ewe joined.
The mature ewes scanned at 2.3 lambs per ewe joined with a barren rate of 1.5%. Of these, 8% were singles, 49% were doubles and 43% were triplets. The hoggets had a scanning rate of 1.78 and the ewe lambs scanned at 0.87.
Ewes are let out rearing a maximum of two lambs. Cross-fostering is practised where possible but this option is limited with a low number of single ewes. In 2019, the 30 surplus lambs were reared artificially on two bucket feeders.
Mortality
In terms of mortality during lambing, provisional analysis shows it is in the region of 8-9%. Overall mortality is running at almost 13%.
There was an outbreak of chlamydial or enzootic abortion in older ewes. This can be directly linked to the loss of about 15 lambs. There were also three ewes lost in this outbreak.
Register for free to read this story and our free stories.
This content is available to digital subscribers and loyalty code users only. Sign in to your account, use the code or subscribe to get unlimited access.
The reader loyalty code gives you full access to the site from when you enter it until the following Wednesday at 9pm. Find your unique code on the back page of Irish Country Living every week.
CODE ACCEPTED
You have full access to the site until next Wednesday at 9pm.
CODE NOT VALID
Please try again or contact support.
The system of calving suckler cows in early spring and lambing the ewes in mid-March worked particularly well on Tullamore Farm in 2019.
At the open day, the reproductive performance of the ewes was one of the main focuses. The ewes on the farm are Mule ewes, progeny of a Scottish Blackfaced ewe and a Bluefaced Leicester ram. These sheep were selected to achieve a high output.
Scanning
This year’s scanning records are based on a group with a high percentage of hoggets and a small batch of ewe lambs. Overall, the flock scanned at 2.23 lambs per ewe joined.
The mature ewes scanned at 2.3 lambs per ewe joined with a barren rate of 1.5%. Of these, 8% were singles, 49% were doubles and 43% were triplets. The hoggets had a scanning rate of 1.78 and the ewe lambs scanned at 0.87.
Ewes are let out rearing a maximum of two lambs. Cross-fostering is practised where possible but this option is limited with a low number of single ewes. In 2019, the 30 surplus lambs were reared artificially on two bucket feeders.
Mortality
In terms of mortality during lambing, provisional analysis shows it is in the region of 8-9%. Overall mortality is running at almost 13%.
There was an outbreak of chlamydial or enzootic abortion in older ewes. This can be directly linked to the loss of about 15 lambs. There were also three ewes lost in this outbreak.
If you would like to speak to a member of our team, please call us on 01-4199525.
Link sent to your email address
We have sent an email to your address. Please click on the link in this email to reset your password. If you can't find it in your inbox, please check your spam folder. If you can't find the email, please call us on 01-4199525.
ENTER YOUR LOYALTY CODE:
The reader loyalty code gives you full access to the site from when you enter it until the following Wednesday at 9pm. Find your unique code on the back page of Irish Country Living every week.
SHARING OPTIONS